Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Recipe of the Week!

Cincinnati Chili

Tonight I made this recipe for it's final hurrah (I hope) before warm weather returns. It's surprisingly delicious and I do a few variations on it depending on spices and other supplies on hand. This is another where I don't think you can do wrong. Like tonight, we were short on onion, and we had garbanzo beans in the cupboard instead of kidney so I substituted and it was still good. Since it's Cincinnati chili you are supposed to eat it over pasta, but we rarely do that. Although, it is good when we do. I hope you enjoy!


Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
  • 1 6-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tablespoons chopped unsweetened chocolate
  • 1 tablespoon cider or red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 19-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • Grated cheddar cheese for topping

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium heavy pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and the garlic and cook until soft, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, paprika, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne and cloves. Cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add the beef and cook the mixture, stirring, until the beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon salt.
Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, bay leaf and 1 1/2 cups water; simmer the mixture, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thicker. Add the chocolate, vinegar and Worcestershire and cook until the mixture is thickened but still soupy, about 15 more minutes. Add the beans.
Discard the bay leaf and season the chili with the freshly ground pepper and top with cheddar.

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